Batcap

Greeting & Salutations I'm really just starting out, My weigh in is the 31st of August & that starts my 3 month pre-op program. I'm in a pretty good state of mind but am very concerned about my Anti-Depressants. I take 525 mg of Effexor-XR a day for Borderline Personality Disorder, Yes I am a man & it's not like in Girl Interrupted that took place in the 60's, I get that all the time. What it means is that in general I absolutely loathe myself so my appearance usually changes a lot, hairstyle, clothing style, I've been a greaser, a punker, a goth & a cowboy & that was in my 30's. I'm soon to be 45 & after years of therapy & counseling I've reached a good place. If anyone else out there has been on Effexor you'll know that the withdrawal is brutal. I've heard that you need to come off of extended release medications, has anyone else gone through this? Going through the pre-op program seems tough enough without having to go through an anti-depressant change. Is it something you should do sooner rather than later? I have an appointment with my Psychiatrist but it isn't for a couple weeks so I'm stressing a little about it. Any insight would be helpful. Thanks!

Now that is what I'm talking about....

I had moobs before my female classmates have, I worked out and nothing seemed to work. I'm 8 weeks into my 12 week pre-op period and am hoping for a January Bypass Surgery. I reached a level of acceptance of them but am holding out a little hope that once the surgery is done they may decrease....

I always loved food, this is probably one of the most pathetic things you'll ever hear but when I turned 16 & got my first car one of my first thoughts was, now I can have In-n-out whenever I want. Yeah, that's pretty sad. As I got older I came to realize that in a lot of ways food didn't judge me & gave me that small part of pleasure. Now that I'm 44 & in the middle of my 3 month prep for my surgery & my health is on the verge of getting out of control & things in general are starting not to work I wish that my feelings weren't so damn tasty....

Greetings & Salutations, I'm getting ready to start my 3 month pre-op program & will be weighing in on the 31st of August. I'm feeling pretty excited, this is actually my second attempt at surgery, my first stopped because of an insurance change & an emotional collapse that came with it, now it's two years later & I'm ready to move forward. I'm soon to be 45 & things are starting to break down. I have diabetes & a year ago had a 16 A1C & currently way 315 pounds standing at about 5'11". I started having issues with infections & almost had part of my foot amputated from a horrid infection, fortunately I was able to turn everything around, heal my foot & get my A1C down to 7, which considering where I started is pretty damn cool. I have a hard time losing weight now because of the type of insulin I'm on & rather than fight it for the rest of my life I decided to go ahead with the surgery & hopefully get rid of the issue all together. Outside of the infections I've had all of the other fun stuff that goes along with neglecting yourself for years, eye issues, joint issues & things just don't work like they used to. Things have gotten somewhat better due to the changes I've made already but there's still so much more to improve & repair. Reading your guys' posts inspired me to share what I'm going through & thank you for that.

Have my orientation tomorrow and my first meeting with my surgeon on Christmas Eve. I'm really excited about finally taking charge of my life and future. I have always been overweight and have battled depression just as long. I taking Effexor and Wellbutrin and am doing ok now but I'm worried about emotionally spinning out of control once I actually get closer or during post op. Does being on medication make the process harder? Does the medication hurt your chances of being able to have the surgery? It's funny I'm more scared of the psych profile then getting cut.

My mom had surgery a year ago and is 100lbs lighter and didn't want anyone to know, on Christmas Eve I had my surgeon consultation and am ready to get started on my journey but I'm not all that worried about people finding out, I've been a fat guy my whole life and everyone's seen the yo-yo ing. The way I see it would be pretty hard to believe that at 41 I all of a sudden got my act together. I was also one of those guys that said I 'll NEVER have surgery, I'm fine with the way I am, it's funny how a new daughter can change your attitude, and if I can do it than anyone can and I'm now hoping that a couple of my friends will see me doing it and will now at least consider their options. Sorry for crashing the powder room.

Greetings & Salutations, I've been overweight my whole life and now just before my 41st birthday I've finally decided to take control and do something. My first consultation is coming up in a couple weeks but I'm really not sure whether to get banded or have the bypass surgery. I was leaning towards the band because I can get back to work faster, I really can't afford to be off for more than a week and a half, two weeks max. I've been hearing a lot of people say they were able to be back in two weeks, if that's true then I'm just not sure what the right decision is.

No, I've decided to get bypass after talking to some of you on the threads and intensive research. Thanks it's great to hear that others go through the same things.

That's what I'm focusing on right now education. There's a lot of shock within my family because I was one of those people that said they'd rather die then have surgery, it's amazing what a new baby can do to your perspective.